Shaving systems comprising replaceable blades and blade cartridges are known in the shaving industry. One type of shaving system which has been sold for many years is the injector blade system. One injector system comprises a razor having a guard surface, a cap normally biased downwardly against a rearward portion of the guard member and open sidewalls. A plurality of replacement blades are stored in a replacement blade compartment comprising an alignment stem and a slidable blade loader slidably positioned along the top of the replacement blade compartment. The replacement blades are biased upwardly in the replacement blade compartment toward the blade loader proximate one end of the compartment.
When a replacement blade is needed in the razor, the alignment stem of the replacement blade compartment is first inserted into a slot in the back of the razor in order to (1) properly align the replacement blades with the razor and (2) relieve some of the biasing pressure between the cap and the guard member. The blade loader is then slid from a position above the upwardly biased replacement blades away from the razor toward the other end of the replacement blade compartment in order to allow a replacement blade to move upwardly against the upper, inner surface of the replacement compartment. The blade loader is then advanced toward the razor and, since a new blade has moved upwardly, the blade loader engages the replacement blade thereby moving the replacement blade into position in the razor while simultaneously ejecting the used blade out the opposite end of the razor. The ejected blade falls freely from the razor.
While the injector system described above has enjoyed marketing success for many years, it suffers from several disadvantages. Often, the ejected used blade drops to the ground and requires the user to bend over to pick up the used blade. This can be uncomfortable, it takes time and may also lead to injuries due to the sharpness of the used blade. It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved blade replacement device which is easier to use, requires less time to complete a blade replacement, and which is safer to perform.
It would be particularly desirable to provide a blade replacement device which eliminates the need for a user to handle sharp blades during blade replacement.